Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he plans to have with the Chief Executive of Hong Kong on the powers bestowed on her under the new National Security legislation to appoint judges to hear national security cases.

As the Foreign Secretary said in Parliament on 1 July, the enactment by China of the national security law for Hong Kong is a grave and deeply disturbing step. The law's imposition on the people of Hong Kong constitutes a clear and serious breach of the Joint Declaration. We are particularly concerned by the provision for Hong Kong's Chief Executive, rather than the Chief Justice, to appoint judges to hear national security cases.

On 1 July, the Permanent Under Secretary of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office summoned the Chinese Ambassador to make clear the UK's deep concern at China's actions. Our Consul General in Hong Kong has also raised our concerns about the legislation with members of the Executive Council Hong Kong. The Foreign Secretary spoke to Chinese State Councillor and Minister for Foreign affairs, Wang Yi on 8 June. We will continue to raise our concerns with both the Governments of China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.